In the summer of 2009, Canadians and the rest of the international community looked on with concern as Iranian security forces cracked down on protestors in the wake of that country’s June 12 presidential election. In many respects, this development was another high profile example of the Iranian authorities’ poor record with respect to human rights. The events surrounding the contested election also offered a rare glimpse of the internal tensions present in the country.

The dramatic protests in Iran last summer, the response of the Iranian authorities, and the reaction of the international community served to sharpen the focus of a study by the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (hereinafter the Subcommittee). The Subcommittee had begun to examine Iran’s record with respect to international human rights in the 39^th Parliament, when it held hearings and prepared a report on the Bahá'í community in Iran. The report was subsequently adopted by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (hereinafter the Committee) and tabled in the House of Commons on March 5, 2009.

Concerned about what seemed to be the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, the Subcommittee decided to undertake a broader study into the mistreatment of the Iranian population by the governing regime, and also into the Iranian government’s role regionally and internationally with respect to human rights and violations of international law. With regard to its international role, the Subcommittee is particularly concerned about the Iranian leadership’s aggressive rhetoric and its role in supporting terrorist organizations, both of which are targeted against the state and people of Israel. Even more alarming is the mistrust the Iranian government has created around its nuclear program and the potentially lethal consequences if a military application of this nuclear program were to become a reality.

Between March 10 and October 29, 2009, the Subcommittee held sixteen hearings on these subjects. It heard from expert witnesses, human rights activists representing non-governmental organizations, academics, and lawyers. In light of this testimony, the Subcommittee makes the following assessments:

• The Iranian regime has a long history of systemic and widespread human rights violations against its own people. These abuses violate its population’s right to life, freedom from discrimination based on religion, sex, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation and political opinions. Often times, these abuses violate Iran’s own domestic laws.
• Recording and reporting these violations has been problematic as domestic human rights organizations are often shut down by government officials, and journalists and activists are regularly harassed. Those who attempt to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its actions are often subject to arbitrary arrest under the guise of national security — some, including juveniles, are tortured and killed. As well, international human rights organizations have not been allowed to enter Iranian territory for several years.
• Iranians who are arrested are not afforded due process under law. The judicial system in Iran remains very weak in practice, with executive authorities regularly interfering in the judicial process.
• The June 12, 2009 presidential election in Iran and the regime’s violent crackdown on those protesting the official results are further proof of the regime’s heavy handed approach to quelling dissent among its population. In fact, protestors were angry that even the modicum of democracy that is afforded to them in their Constitution was not respected by the hardline elements of the regime in their attempt to hold onto power.
• The Subcommittee recognises the emergence of a grassroots, civil movement born out of the Iranian population’s disillusionment with its government following the June 2009 election. The Subcommittee also has faith in the youth of Iran, who are increasingly educated and technology-savvy. They are the future of Iran and are willing to continue to fight for their rights and for democracy.
• The Iranian regime supports terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, who are responsible for mass atrocities against Jewish people all over the world.
• The Iranian leadership’s inflammatory rhetoric constitutes incitement to genocide, in violation of the prohibition against incitement in Article 3 of the Genocide Convention.
• The Subcommittee believes that the Iranian regime is already acting on its genocidal rhetoric against the state and people of Israel by arming and financing terrorist organizations and is therefore particularly concerned about the possibility of the regime acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
• The Subcommittee also believes that the nuclear issue is continually distracting the international community from the Iranian regime’s assault on the rights of its own people. Therefore, the regime must be discussed in the context of three converging dynamics: the rights-violating, the genocidal and the nuclear. All dialogue with the Iranian regime must include human rights at the forefront.

In conclusion, the Subcommittee firmly believes that the Iranian regime’s policies and activities within its territory and those it projects internationally constitute gross violations of its obligations under international law. Canada has a number of bilateral and multilateral tools at its disposal to express its condemnation of the Iranian regime’s policies and actions, and must take action by implementing the Subcommittee’s following recommendations.

Human Rights in Iran: List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to provide moral support and should increase, if possible, its financial support for Canadian and Iranian civil society organizations and other human rights groups that document and report on human rights abuses committed by the Iranian regime.

Recommendation 2

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada provide moral and diplomatic support to the democratic movement in Iran.

Recommendation 3

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada demand, at every appropriate opportunity, that the Iranian government grant access to international human rights organizations within its borders and allow domestic human rights organizations to operate without restriction or harassment.

Recommendation 4

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada consider funding a research chair at a Canadian university dedicated to the study of Canadian-Iranian relations, including the human rights situation in Iran.

Recommendation 5

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada encourage Radio Canada International to consider programming in Farsi over its worldwide shortwave service, over conventional AM/FM broadcasting in the Gulf region, and over the Internet.

Recommendation 6

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada take appropriate action to ensure that Iranian foreign offices, bureaus or media outlets in Canada are not used by the Iranian regime as a source of threat and intimidation of the Iranian Diaspora in Canada.

Recommendation 7

The Subcommittee recommends that, in communicating its condemnation of the human rights violations of the Iranian regime against its own people, the Government of Canada:

• Use all available tools, already authorized under Canada’s existing immigration and visa legislation, to ensure that high-ranking members of the regime are not able to access direct or indirect support from within Canadian territory.
• Reduce high-level interaction with Iranian Government officials and make any invitations extended to Iranian officials conditional upon effective actions taken by the Iranian government to improve the human rights situation in Iran.

Recommendation 8

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada, in communicating its condemnation of the human rights violations perpetrated by members of Iran’s state security agencies against the Iranian people, use all available tools, authorized by existing immigration and visa policies and legislation, to deny entry to Canada to members of Iran’s security agencies, including members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia.

Recommendation 9

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure sufficient resources are available to the Department of Justice, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to ensure that they are able to make accurate decisions related to recommendations 7 and 8.

Recommendation 10

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada institute targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against those individuals within the Iranian government and state security forces who are known to have committed human rights violations.

Recommendation 11

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to display public disapproval of the Iranian regime and its leadership and continue to make active interventions during any bilateral meetings with Iranian government officials as well as at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations General Assembly and other international organisations regarding Iran’s poor human rights record.

Recommendation 12

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada work multilaterally with other member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council to re-establish a position for a country-specific rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

Recommendation 13

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada completely remove immunity for foreign government officials in cases of gross violations of international human rights law, including torture, from the State Immunity Act allowing Canadians who are victims of such human rights violations judicial remedy within Canada’s domestic legal system.

Iran and International Peace and Security: List of Recommendations

Recommendation 14

The Subcommittee recommends that, as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Government of Canada should use every opportunity to encourage the IAEA to continue its efforts to inspect Iranian nuclear production facilities.

Recommendation 15

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to work with the United Nations and members of the international community to add sanctions to those already imposed against Iran. In particular, the Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada move in concert with its international partners to implement the necessary regulations under the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) and/or Export and Import Permits Act to impose:

• A ban on all goods exported from Canada to Iran, excepting humanitarian goods such as food and medicine, and a ban on all goods imported from Iran to Canada;
• A ban on businesses or their subsidiaries operating in Canada from exporting gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran or facilitating such export (i.e. the shipping and insurance industries);
• A ban on new investment in Iran or the introduction of incentives to prevent such investments, particularly with regards to Iran’s energy infrastructure, by Canadian persons and companies (as well as foreign companies or their subsidiaries operating in Canada) and including related industries such as shipping, insurance and construction companies;
• A prohibition on the provision of financial services to and from Iran, particularly regarding any transactions with the Iranian Central Bank, by businesses or their subsidiaries operating in Canada;
• A prohibition on the export of any technologies to Iran, particularly those that enable the Iranian regime to violate the human rights of its own people (including but not limited to surveillance equipment);
• A prohibition on Canadian-registered ships from docking in Iran and on Iranian-registered ships from docking in Canada and passing through Canadian waters.

Recommendation 16

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada call upon United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to refer the matter of Iran’s genocidal incitement to the Security Council pursuant to Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, on the basis that Iran poses a threat to international peace and security.

Recommendation 17

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a listed entity for its role in supporting international terrorist organizations in accordance with Canadian law.

Recommendation 18

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada assist with the enforcement of standing international arrest warrants that have been filed against Iranian government officials.

Recommendation 19

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada initiate an inter-state complaint against the Government of Iran before the International Court of Justice, under Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, calling Iran to account for its violations of the Convention, including its failure to punish the incitement to genocide perpetrated by its officials.

Recommendation 20

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada, in accordance with Canada’s responsibilities under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention and the prohibition against incitement to genocide in Article 3 of the Convention, invite the United Nations Security Council to consider referring to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court the case of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and those Iranian leaders participating with him in direct and public incitement to genocide, for investigation and prospective prosecution.

Recommendation 21

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada petition the United Nations Security Council, in accordance with Canada’s responsibilities under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention and the prohibition against incitement to genocide in Article 3 of the Convention, to take appropriate action and to hold Iran to account.

The Human Rights Situation in Post-Election Iran: List of Recommendations

Recommendation 22

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada encourage the governments of the P5 plus 1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China) to include a discussion of human rights issues in their negotiations with the Iranian government regarding that country’s nuclear programs.

Recommendation 23

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to fund the work of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre and encourage the Centre to open an office in Canada.

Recommendation 24

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure that when federal grants and other assistance are made to educational and other institutions that this assistance be contingent on these institutions not accepting money from Iranian sources.